The Golden Skateboard Association (GSA) and the Town of Golden are working together to expand the Freeride Park located on the Mount 7 Rec Plex grounds.

The GSA has already developed a conceptual plan and design for the proposed expansion presented at a council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 2.

The conceptual plan was designed by Jason Jones, of LARCH architecture, with funding for the concept coming from a 2020 Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiative grant.

“It’s a busy facility and a lot of young families in Golden make use of it,” said Wade Duchman, a director with the Golden Skateboard Association.

“We feel like the town needs more offerings like this and seeing the success of the pump track really pinpoints what a park like this could do for the community.”

“From a Town perspective, having town space for multiple age groups and demographics that allows for progression is so key in terms of helping young individuals become athletes for life,” added Jordan Petrovics, Town of Golden manager of recreation services.

“Looking how skateparks have evolved over the last 20-odd years and how many more riders like BMX riders, scooters, mountain bikers and wheelchairs, it’s important to diversify that space so it’s more accessible and increases the value back to the average resident.”

The expansion wouldn’t be limited to park features for riders and skaters, but would improve on the area for multiple users, with the concept looking at improving the basketball court and an outdoor rink in the winter.

All the new features would be rideable, according to Duchman, but would also open up the space to multiple user groups.

The expansion would also seek to diversify the skill level of the park, which Duchman says is geared more towards intermediate to higher level riders.

“We want more of a base in that park for young people who are learning the sports,” said Duchamn.

“We want to focus on smaller obstacles for people to learn on and have more space and make it more safe for younger people when some of the bigger riders are on there and it gets busy.”

One of the next steps for the project will be an application for a Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives and Affected Areas Program (CBT CIP) to help fund improvement/reconstruction of the outdoor arena/basketball courts on the Mount 7 Rec-Plex grounds.

The Rotary Club is planning on providing $20,000 of funding to the project as well.

“I can say with confidence that council is happy with the design and have now granted the association the approval to look at grant funding and ways to get shovels in the ground,” said Petrovics.

According to Petrovics, the conversation around expanding the skatepark, which was first installed in the early 2000s, has been ongoing for almost a decade. A lack of an organized governing body halted progress, but with the formation of the GSA, the project has finally been able to progress and move forward.

Right now, the town recreation department and GSA are working on a survey to gain feedback from the community on what they would like the potential expansion to look like.

Duchman estimates they will be able to get shovels in the ground sometime in the next four years, sooner if possible.

Any questions or input on the project can be directed to goldenskateboardassociation@gmail.com or by completing the survey, which is available online at surveymonkey.com/r/GoldenSkatepark ⁣⁣

Golden Star